Prevent state from slashing vital services

Published: Monday, June 10, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 7, 2013 at 4:18 p.m.

The easiest way to cut spending in a state budget is to vote the poor out of existence. Of course, you can’t just snap your fingers and make a whole group of people vanish. But if you can close your eyes to the needs of the people, you can get rid of the poor (and all their messy little struggles) where it really counts: on paper.

That’s what’s about to happen in Raleigh. If things go as planned, after June 30 (under three weeks from now), proposed cuts to the state budget will force the closing of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center (ADATC) in Black Mountain.

If you’re one of the very few people who does not have an alcoholic in your family, you might be thinking, “So what?” But if, like most of us, you can count to seven when you think of the number of people who are important in your life, you’ve already hit the magic threshold. One in seven people (15 percent of the population, according to a study done by the National Institute of Health) is a problem drinker.

A far more startling statistic: Forty percent of traffic-related deaths involve alcohol use. Nationwide, drunken drivers cost taxpayers $50 billion a year, with one drinking-related traffic injury per minute and a drinking-related death every 32 minutes!

Drugs and alcohol are a prominent part of most domestic violence complaints, a frequent cause of divorce, family separation and juvenile delinquency, often leading to kids dropping out of high school and becoming single parents long before they are ready.

Money is always in short supply in the alcoholic home. That means if it’s a choice between smoking and drinking or having health insurance for the family, the cigarettes and alcohol will win, hands down.

And therein lies the problem. This is the type of family that desperately needs help and intervention but so often does not have the resources to get that help. Without insurance coverage, a stay in a decent alcohol or drug abuse rehab can easily cost $14,000 for one month of treatment. That’s a lot of money for anyone. It’s an impossible sum to come up with for a family that already has money problems.

ADATC in Black Mountain has been treating alcoholics and substance abusers, as well as all types of addiction, for many years as part of the state-funded safety net that was put in place to help families and individuals in crisis due to addiction and alcoholism.

ADATC is a facility consisting of three units, the 18-bed detox unit, along with the men’s unit and the women’s unit, which together make up the rehab program. There are 80 beds in all between the three units.

That may seem like a lot until you discover a little known fact: ADATC serves 37 counties in Western North Carolina. That’s more than one-third of the state. This is why it’s not unusual for prospective patients to have a significant wait for a bed.

The next logical question is: Where will people who need to be detoxed or go through rehab go if ADATC closes? First, the clients who go to ADATC are people who have scarce medical resources, including health insurance, as discussed here. That puts private treatment facilities out of the question for the vast majority of them.

But during the acute withdrawal stage, or in the case of serious medical complications such as alcoholic cirrhosis, ruptured and bleeding varicose veins of the esophagus, delirium tremors or seizures, an alcoholic patient must be hospitalized until he or she is stable.

While ADATC does not treat the most serious medical emergencies, it is a significant referral source to treat alcoholic patients who are stable, thereby taking the load off emergency rooms across the western part of the state. Without it, hospitals and emergency departments could easily become backed up, preventing the treatment of other serious, life-threatening emergencies.

The craziest part of this entire equation is that in cutting these vital services, the state will spend far more money in the long run. For every dollar spent on treatment, $7 is saved in other services, including emergency rooms, police involvement, family counseling, domestic violence, crisis intervention and juvenile detention.

Farming these services out to local management entities (LME’s) is a precarious tap dance often resulting in private entities “cherry picking” the very best clients and leaving the rest to fend for themselves. If substance abuse LME’s go the way of mental health care LME’s, we will soon be left with the entire safety net of current services shredded.

If you care about these vital services, please call your state representatives and let them know you are very concerned that these services be preserved and that ADATC not be closed. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday.

<p>The easiest way to cut spending in a state budget is to vote the poor out of existence. Of course, you can't just snap your fingers and make a whole group of people vanish. But if you can close your eyes to the needs of the people, you can get rid of the poor (and all their messy little struggles) where it really counts: on paper.</p><p>That's what's about to happen in Raleigh. If things go as planned, after June 30 (under three weeks from now), proposed cuts to the state budget will force the closing of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center (ADATC) in Black Mountain.</p><p>If you're one of the very few people who does not have an alcoholic in your family, you might be thinking, “So what?” But if, like most of us, you can count to seven when you think of the number of people who are important in your life, you've already hit the magic threshold. One in seven people (15 percent of the population, according to a study done by the National Institute of Health) is a problem drinker.</p><p>A far more startling statistic: Forty percent of traffic-related deaths involve alcohol use. Nationwide, drunken drivers cost taxpayers $50 billion a year, with one drinking-related traffic injury per minute and a drinking-related death every 32 minutes!</p><p>Drugs and alcohol are a prominent part of most domestic violence complaints, a frequent cause of divorce, family separation and juvenile delinquency, often leading to kids dropping out of high school and becoming single parents long before they are ready.</p><p>Money is always in short supply in the alcoholic home. That means if it's a choice between smoking and drinking or having health insurance for the family, the cigarettes and alcohol will win, hands down.</p><p>And therein lies the problem. This is the type of family that desperately needs help and intervention but so often does not have the resources to get that help. Without insurance coverage, a stay in a decent alcohol or drug abuse rehab can easily cost $14,000 for one month of treatment. That's a lot of money for anyone. It's an impossible sum to come up with for a family that already has money problems.</p><p>ADATC in Black Mountain has been treating alcoholics and substance abusers, as well as all types of addiction, for many years as part of the state-funded safety net that was put in place to help families and individuals in crisis due to addiction and alcoholism.</p><p>ADATC is a facility consisting of three units, the 18-bed detox unit, along with the men's unit and the women's unit, which together make up the rehab program. There are 80 beds in all between the three units.</p><p>That may seem like a lot until you discover a little known fact: ADATC serves 37 counties in Western North Carolina. That's more than one-third of the state. This is why it's not unusual for prospective patients to have a significant wait for a bed.</p><p>The next logical question is: Where will people who need to be detoxed or go through rehab go if ADATC closes? First, the clients who go to ADATC are people who have scarce medical resources, including health insurance, as discussed here. That puts private treatment facilities out of the question for the vast majority of them.</p><p>But during the acute withdrawal stage, or in the case of serious medical complications such as alcoholic cirrhosis, ruptured and bleeding varicose veins of the esophagus, delirium tremors or seizures, an alcoholic patient must be hospitalized until he or she is stable.</p><p>While ADATC does not treat the most serious medical emergencies, it is a significant referral source to treat alcoholic patients who are stable, thereby taking the load off emergency rooms across the western part of the state. Without it, hospitals and emergency departments could easily become backed up, preventing the treatment of other serious, life-threatening emergencies.</p><p>The craziest part of this entire equation is that in cutting these vital services, the state will spend far more money in the long run. For every dollar spent on treatment, $7 is saved in other services, including emergency rooms, police involvement, family counseling, domestic violence, crisis intervention and juvenile detention.</p><p>Farming these services out to local management entities (LME's) is a precarious tap dance often resulting in private entities “cherry picking” the very best clients and leaving the rest to fend for themselves. If substance abuse LME's go the way of mental health care LME's, we will soon be left with the entire safety net of current services shredded.</p><p>If you care about these vital services, please call your state representatives and let them know you are very concerned that these services be preserved and that ADATC not be closed. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday.</p><p>In Henderson County, contact Rep. Chris Whitmire, 919-715-4466; Rep. Chuck McGrady, 919-733-5956; and Sen. Tom Apodaca, 919-733-5745. In Buncombe County, contact Rep. Nathan Ramsey, 919-733-5746; Rep. Tim Moffitt, 919-715-3012; Rep. Susan Fisher, 919-715-2013; and Sen. Martin Nesbitt, 919-715-3001.</p>